It’s time to show up. It’s time to engage

Jodie Foster talked about how she usually doesn’t like to use her celebrity for activism, but it’s different now. “It’s time to show up,” she said. “It’s a singular time in history. It’s time to engage. And as the very, very dead Frederick Douglass once said ‘any time is a good time for illumination.'”

The mother of two and Michael J. Fox were among the speakers, celebrities and top talent agents gathered in Beverly Hills to rally for immigration rights. The United Voices event was organized by the United Talent Agency – in lieu of holding their annual Oscars party. Security officials estimated there were 1,200 people in attendance.

Michael J. Fox, who became a United States citizen some 20 years ago, remembered being annoyed at the 8-year process to citizenship and now wonders what he was complaining about.

Turning immigrants away, Fox said, is “an assault on human dignity.”

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom also spoke at the event.

UTA previously announced that it was donating $250,000 to the ACLU and the International Rescue Committee and has set up a crowd-funding page to solicit more donations. At press time, over $320,000 had been raised.

via USA Today